How to Decorate with Chalkboards

Inspiration for funky home décor can be found just about anywhere: small-town restaurants, quirky motels, and even your classroom of school days long ago. Chalkboards have become a decorating device that can offer visual interest, be very practical and evoke long-forgotten memories of teachers, schoolbooks and fun times. It’s time to bring chalkboards out of the classroom and make them part of your home décor.

Here are some ideas for decorating with chalkboards.

Adult-Friendly Organizers

You can hang chalkboards anywhere you need to have gentle reminders but just don’t want something as utilitarian or plain as a notepad or whiteboard. Beautifully framed chalk boards make the perfect, functional addition to anyone’s home décor. You can grab a few chalkboards and create a grid pattern or symmetrical series on a mudroom wall and designate a board per household member. These handy home décor additions create a highly sleek look in both traditional and modern decors. Frames can be chosen to reflect your decorating scheme for your kitchen, home office or organization area. For country and shabby chic décor, choose a patina-rich frame or for a modern home, choose a more slender frame. Keep two cups nearby: one for erasers and one for chalk.

Child-Friendly Organizers

Place chalkboards in children’s playrooms or bedrooms and double the utility of the board by pairing with a cork or peg board. Create a grid, or any other pattern you want, of pieces of boards cut to the same size. Colorful molding frames will render the boards a fun focal point in the room. You could even augment older furnishings with pieces of unframed chalkboard or replace armoire or cabinet door panels with chalkboard doors.

Accessories

Chalkboards tend to be functional objects that can be designed to suit any home décor. However, they work as accessories, too. Why not replace that old glass in a mirror frame with a chalkboard that’s been cut to fit? A chalkboard mirror really lends itself to a sense of the unexpected. Pair it with a black frame for a slightly darker type of decoration. If you prefer primitive home décor, replace the glass with a vintage window pane. Leave the frame as-is or try enhancing it with scrapbook stickers or wall decals.

A Few More Options

You can employ other kinds of décor, such as chalkboard and slate paint. Slate used to be used as a chalkboard material in classrooms and can offer a sense of vintage appeal to modern and country decors alike. Alternatively, add style and purpose to a narrow spot on the wall with repurposed roofing slate hung with a heavy string. Leave the slate as it is in its natural shade or add a touch of color by painting a big horizontal stripe. Chalkboard paint can help you transform just about any furniture or wall surface.

small chalkboard

Primitive Star Quilt Shop stocks a selection of framed chalkboards to suit a range of home décor. Take a look at our selection today.